It is not the remit of the Speaker\u2019s Committee on the Electoral Commission, as set out in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, to scrutinise the Electoral Commission\u2019s enforcement policies.<\/p>
Parliament made it an offence to deliver, without reasonable excuse, donation reports that are inaccurate or miss the statutory deadline. Parliament gave the Commission investigation and sanction powers for these, and other, offences. Parliament also set out a legal right of appeal for those sanctioned by the Commission, including on the grounds that the amount of the penalty is unreasonable.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4046", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Bridget Phillipson"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Houghton and Sunderland South"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Bridget Phillipson"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-05-20", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-05-20T12:48:14.007Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "36"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-01-11", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Political Parties: Fines"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2019 to Question 203928 and the Answer of 8 January 2019 to Question 205307, on Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000: Fines, if the Speaker's Committee will undertake a review of whether it is an appropriate and proportionate enforcement policy practice by the Electoral Commission for a political party to be fined £6,000 for submitting a quarterly reporting one day after the deadline.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4450", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Luke Hall"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Thornbury and Yate"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Luke Hall"} ], "uin" : "207584"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1035122", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1035122/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 requires registered political parties to report cash and non-cash donations and borrowing to the Electoral Commission on a quarterly basis. Parliament made it an offence to deliver, without reasonable excuse, donation reports that are inaccurate or miss the statutory deadline. Parliament also gave the Commission investigation and sanction powers for these, and other, offences. The Commission investigates and where appropriate sanctions inaccurate or late donation reports in line with its Enforcement Policy.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4046", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Bridget Phillipson"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Houghton and Sunderland South"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Bridget Phillipson"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-01-08", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-01-08T09:52:54.413Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "36"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-01-04", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Political Parties: Disclosure of Information"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what assessment the Electoral Commission has made of the appropriateness of the Commission's use of civil sanctions for the late submission of political parties' quarterly reports.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4450", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Luke Hall"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Thornbury and Yate"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Luke Hall"} ], "uin" : "205307"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1028628", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1028628/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Electoral Commission has powers to impose a variable monetary penalty where it is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that a person has committed a prescribed offence or contravention under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. The Commission takes decisions on sanctions in line with its Enforcement Policy. This document was the result of a public consultation and is available on its website; I have arranged for copies to be placed in the Library.<\/p>
The Commission has called for an increase to the maximum penalty it can impose on political parties and others for offences or contraventions under the political finance rules. The Commission\u2019s view is that the current maximum fine of £20,000 per offence could be seen as a cost of doing business, and that monetary penalties should be more proportionate to the income and expenditure of larger and well-funded parties and campaigners.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4046", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Bridget Phillipson"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Houghton and Sunderland South"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Bridget Phillipson"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-01-07", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-01-07T09:25:21.733Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "36"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2018-12-19", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000: Fines"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, if she will place in the Library a copy of the guidance that the Electoral Commission uses when determining the proportionality of setting the level of a variable monetary penalty.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4450", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Luke Hall"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Thornbury and Yate"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Luke Hall"} ], "uin" : "203928"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 3, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }